Production and acceptability of chinchin snack made from wheat and tigernut (Cyperus esculentus) flour

Consumer interest in dietary fiber has continued to increase potential impact on health as more information about the nutritional benefits of this are being made available. Among the underutilized crops in Nigeria is tigernut which could find useful application in food industry because of its high level of dietary fibre and other inherent properties. Proximate composition and functional properties of wheat flour (WF) substituted with tigernut flour (TF) at varying proportions (100:0; 90:10; 80:20; 70:30) were carried out. Chinchin was produced based on prepared composite flour. Proximate composition and sensory properties of the product were carried out. The results of the protein were from 11.1 to 14.9%, while the crude fibre content ranged from 0.3 to 2.0% respectively. Increase in water absorption capacity and bulk density of the samples which ranged from 4.25 to 6.40 g/g and 0.51 to 0.62 g/ml respectively were also observed. Most of the parameters of proximate composition assessed increased with increase in tigernut flour for snacks making. Sensory evaluation showed that acceptable chinchin with qualities similar to 100% wheat chinchin can be produced with 10% tigernut flour replacement